As the only American automaker not recently put through a government-sponsored bankruptcy, it comes as little surprise that Ford has taken over the spot long held by General Motors as the Official Sponsor of the NHRA. The first sign of dissension in the ranks came earlier this year as GM’s bankruptcy filing ended the contracts the automaker had previously forged with Cagnazzi Racing, KB Racing LLC, Kurt Racing and Pedregon Racing to provide cash, parts and support vehicles.

This new multiyear agreement between Ford and the NHRA means that for the foreseeable future, all official vehicles used by the racing organization will now carry the Blue Oval badge, including trackside safety vehicles. For its part, Ford seems pleased with its newly prominent role within the drag racing community. Brian Wolfe, Ford’s North America Director of Motorsports, said in a statement:

We’re very excited to be partnering with NHRA on this program. We see this as a very good business proposition in terms of being able to actively reach out at-track and online to the NHRA fan base in ways that we haven’t been able to do in recent years. We’ll be able to allow that fan base to see and experience some of our great new products at-track while also partnering with the successful Motorcraft and Quick Lane program to give fans a look at the total Ford ownership experience.

[Source: NHRA]